Windowed cooking stove



'0612. 14, 'E'. D. PELLEGRIN` WINDOWED COOKINGSTOVE Filed Aug. 19, 19114` 2 Sheets-Sheet l HHHIh.,

img/Tok. ELME R D, BELLE Gam.

Oct. 14,'1947.

mi" W E. D. PELLEGRIN WINDOWED COOKING STOVE VFiled Aug. 19/1944 2 Sheets-Shet 2v l I N V EN TOR.

ELMER D. PE'LLeGmN.

AT1-QR Nay.

plate glass.

Patented Oct. 14, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT YOFFICE WINDOWED COOKING STOVE Elmer D. Pellegrin, Woodstock, Ill., assigner to A. J. Lindemann & HoversoniGompany, MMilwaukee, Wis.,{a corporation-iofWiseonsin Appliation August 19, 1944, SerialNo. 550,291

The improvements Hrelate, .to ...cooking ranges provided with ovens, andY among their objeCtS are the provision of meansmounted in the range whereby the interior .of the oven and food therein may be made visibleand clearly and easily observed by a person standing in normal posture; to so construct such means that they will be Vprotected againstheat, smoke and .other products of combustion and cooking and against accidental injury; to so .construct and arrange them that they will not only give the operator a direct downward view of the oven .from 'front to back but will illumine V'its' interior 4by.light coming from above it and projected upon .the top of the food cooking therein instead-ofindirectly asvthrough an oven door window orpeep glass..

Other objects and advantageswill'be apparent to those familiar with the Yconstruction and. uses of ovens from the following descriptionV oban exemplary embodiment `of the invention.

The improvements vare illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, referred vrto herein,'in which- Y v Fig.V 1 isV a front view of agas Arange with oven embodyingY the improvements;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section substantiallyon'the line 2 2 --of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Heretofore it has kbeen the practice ofsome manufacturers to provide transparentfpanels in theoven doorsl of their ranges, and such'panels usually consist of va sheet of Arelatively-heavy These are open to the Yobjections that the glass panels being in close proximity'to the'cooking zone, even when made double, -radiate heat, become very hot, add` to. the weight of the door and sometimes become broken, do not sufficiently illuminate the oven because the lightadmitted therethrough is indirect, and are sometimes brought in contact with cooking pots and pans and their contents when such vessels are being placed in or removed from the oven. But perhaps the chief objection fis that it is necessaryfor the operator to kneeldown or stoop over yand approach close to the oven door in order to look through the glass. 'There are other unsatisfactory features, including the fact that the light admittedby these transparent panels does not. come from above the oven directly, and is therefore in most cases quite insuicient to give a Clearview of the yfood being cooked. To remedy this last fault, .artificial illuminationL such as -that of incandescentv electric light bulbs has been used,and alsoreilectors intended to reflect light from the skyorfrom 9 Claims. (C15 126-17200) thejillumination ofthe room .have'been used. These, however, arev only a partial remedy, and theV Well recognized need for a device which will givela direct view of the oven and its contents andavoid opening thepoven door for' that purpose l,has not been heretofore met' by any satisfactory device.

The present'improvements may vloe used in combination with artificial illumination of the oven'where the light above andaround the oven vis not good, but in agood light can beused without such interior illumination, and will serve far'betterthan 'the ordinary transparent door window. 'If desired, they may be employed in combination with the door `vvindow'and with'or Without'the interior illumination. But whether used'alone orin `combination with such other illuminating means, the results are far superior and relieve'the operator of considerable trouble and inconvenience, giving a'fu'll View of the oven and'its contents from a standing position. 'The formjahd recessed mounting of the present window also protectk it Yagainst, accidental' injury, and the fact that it is spaced a considerable dis- `tanceg-fromthe oven yand .provided with a protecting glass panel betweenit and the oven 'com partment, which can *be jquickly and easily cleaned, prevents it Afrom becoming'fouled and obscured'by smoke `and other combustion and cooking kproducts and provides excellent insulation against heat radiation.

The'improvements are primarily designed to be used yinthe ovens ofgasranges, but may be employed in electric ranges and even, with suitable adaptations, in-ranges heated l*by solid or liquid fuel.

lIn the drawings; I 'representsthe'exterior of a gas range having va top 2,-- sides --3, oven compartment-'Land oven vdoor 5, which in this case vis ofthe-sliding type-and providedwith a handle 6 for opening and closing it.

IIn-the top wall 'i -ofthe'oventhereV is provided-an opening with an upwardly flared edge Il, Yand upwardlyfrom this opening to the-front of the -rangefbetween the top of the door-andthe oven topextendsa tubular `member. At the outer end of thistube and in the vopen front frame member l0 is mountedan inwardly curved glass window panel-9 the'face of which is partly at least-approximately normal to the length of .the tube, so that a person can look down therethrough and view the interior of the oven from above. The tube is secured at its lower end to theflange. Il of the top Wall l, and between the upper Ledge of this flange and a circumferential interior bead l2 of the tube a transparent plate I3 covering the oven opening is secured. The upper edges of the tube are secured in the turned over edges of the opening of frame member I at Hl and curved transparent window panel 9 closes this opening. It will thus be seen that the interior of the tube and the window 9 are protected against smoke, steam, grease and other combustion and cooking products and insulated against heat.

The cross section of the tube 8 and the plate I3 correspond to the size and outline of the window 9 and offer no material obstruction to the View of the oven interior afforded by the latter and the plate when it becomes obscured can be easily cleaned -by a cloth applied to its under surface. The position of the backwardly curved window 9 near the top of the range and its backward inclination bring it approximately in the line or eld of Vision of a person standing in front of the oven and therefore enable the operator to View the interior of the oven and its contents without stooping and from a safe distance. This window can also be used when the oven door is opened and the cooking food is turned, basted or otherwise attended to, without requiring the face of the operator to be brought into proximity to the oven opening. The light passing into the oven through the window 9 is direct light from the sky or from the ceiling illumination of the room and strikes downwardly into the oven and substantially parallel with the line of vision of the operator, and it is well known that light of this character projected in this manner renders objects more visible, as evidenced by universal practice of experienced photographers of securing such Va light whenever possible.

The position of the window 9 substantially inside the front frame of the stove tends to protect it against accidental breakage and from becoming obscured with dirt, grease or other foreign matter. Its curved form not only improves vision through it but makes it stronger and breaks up light reflections, like the crystal of a watch. However, if the window were made plane it would serve its purpose very well, and much better than all other oven windows now in use.

An oven door window I5 is indicated in Fig. 1, and such a window may be employed if desired to augment the light admitted by the window 9 and obviate the necessity for articial illumination of the oven in relatively dark places. Illumination may also be provided by the horizontal tubular electric light bulb I6 plugged into the side of the oven at Il and operated by a suitable snap or button switch to impart current to it from the house lamp circuit or flashlight storage batteries. This lamp extends laterally across the top of the oven al; the rear part thereof and is enclosed by a reflector I8 and a glass window I9 set in the top wall of the oven at 29. As illumination of this character is used in ovens and other compartments requiring it and is found in prior patents, the details need not be further described, It should, however, be arranged substantially as shown or in some other manner which will not permit it to interfere with the light entering the oven through the window 9 or the view of the operator therethrough, and it will not be found necessary in most cases where adequate sky light or ceiling illumination is present.

If the oven is located under top burners of a gas range the outer sight window and its passage can be located between the valve rods and their exterior handles, the rods in that case diverging 4 frontwardly and the handles being spaced apart to make room for them.

The opening 2I at the front of the oven is closed by the door 5 which forms when so closed a part of the enclosing frame of the range, which in the illustrative embodiment shown is of the console type, and its inner vertical wall 5' is then within the outer edges of the top I and side walls 22 of the inner oven shell so as to provide a tight closure. The opening 23 in the top wall of the oven is within this inner face of the door so as to be unobstructed thereby, but the opening and the sight glass 9 may be combined with a special construction of the door so as to be carried thereby and at the same time give a top downward View of the oven interior and catch vertical rays of light from above the oven.

Various other changes in details of construction may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

What I Claim is:

1. In a cooking range, an outer enclosing frame or housing comprising front and top portions, an oven compartment therein comprising a top and sides, one of the sides having a front opening, a door for said opening having its top below the top of the frame and forming in effect when closed a portion of said frame front portion, said front portion having an obliquely arranged sight opening at its upper part inclined inwardly and at least partly exposed to light rays coming from above the range, a transparent cover for said sight opening, said oven having an opening in visual alignment with said sight opening, said range having a visually unobstructed space between and through the two last mentioned openings and open to the interior of the oven and in fields of vision projected from the space above and laterally removed from the range.

2. In a cooking range, an outer enclosing frame or housing comprising front and top portions, an oven compartment therein comprising a top and sides, one of the sides having a front opening, a

door for said opening having its-top below the top of the frame, a window in said door for admitting light to the interior of the oven, said front portion having a sight opening in an obliquely arranged portion at its upper part at least partly exposed to vertical light rays coming from above the range, a sheet of transparent material closing said sight opening and conforming thereto in position, said oven top having an opening in visual alignment with said sight opening, said range having a visually unobstructed space between and through the two last mentioned openings and open to the interior of the oven and in fields of vision projected from the space above and removed from the range.

3. In a cooking range, an outer enclosing frame or housing comprising front and top portions, an oven compartment therein comprising a top and sides, one of the sides having a front opening, a door for said opening, an obliquely arranged window at the upper part of said front portion inclined inwardly and at least partly exposed to vertical light rays coming from above the range, said oven having a top opening in visual alignment with said front window, said range having a visually unobstructed space between and through the said window and oven top opening and open to the interior of the oven and in fields of vision projected from space above and removed from the range, and an illuminating device in the upper part of said oven to the rear of said top opening.

4. In a cooking range, an outer enclosing frame or housing comprising front and top portions, an oven compartment therein comprising a top and sides, one of the sides having a front opening, a door for said opening, an obliquely arranged win- 'dow at the upper part of said front portion inclined inwardly and at least partly exposed to light rays coming from above the range,` said oven having a top opening in visual alignment with said front window and spaced inwardly and downwardly therefrom, said range having a visually unobstructed sight space between and through the window and said oven top vopening and open to the interior of the oven and in fields of vision projected from space above and removed from the range.

5. In a cooking range, an outer enclosing frame or housing comprising front, side and top portions, an oven compartment therein comprising a top and sides, one of the sides having a front opening, a door for said opening, said frame having a sight opening at its upper part which is inclined inwardly and at least partly exposed to light rays coming from above the range, said oven top having an opening in visual alignment with said sight opening, said range having a visually unobstructed space between the two last mentioned openings and visually open to the interior of the oven and to space above and removed from the range, a transparent cover for said sight opening, said inclined sight opening being at least partly within the outer surfaces of the outer enclosing frame.

6. In a cooking range, an outer enclosing frame or housing comprising front, side and top portions, an oven compartment therein comprising a top and sides, one of the sides having a front opening, a door for said opening, said frame having a sight opening at its upper part which is exposed to light rays coming from above the range, said oven top having an opening in visual alignment with said sight opening, said range having a visually unobstructed space between the two last mentioned openings and visually open to the interior of the oven and to space above and removed from the range, a transparent cover for said sight opening, said sight opening being at least partly within the outer surface of the outer enclosing frame.

7. In a cooking range, an outer enclosing frame or housing comprising front, side and top portions, an oven compartment therein comprising a top and sides, one of the sides having a front opening, a doorfor said opening, said frame having a sight opening above said door which opening is inclined inwardly and at least partly exposed to light rays coming from above the range, a sheet of transparent material in said sight opening inclined therewith and upwardly convex, said oven top having a horizontal opening in visual alignment with said frame sight opening, a transparent closure therein, said range having a visually unobstructed space between the two last mentioned openings and visually open to the interior of the oven and to space above and re-` moved from the range, said inclined sight opening being positioned at least partly within the outer surfaces of the outer enclosing frame and said transparent sheet therein having its upper part beneath the top portion of the frame.

8. In a cooking range, an outer enclosing frame or housing comprising front, side and top portions, an oven compartment therein comprising a top and sides, one of the sides having a front opening, a door for said opening, said frame having a sight opening at its upper part which opening is exposed to light rays coming from above the range, said oven top having a substantially horizontal opening at its front in visual alignment with said sight opening, said range having a visually unobstructed space between the two last mentioned openings and visually open to the interior of the oven and to space above the range, a transparent cover for said sight opening, an artificial illuminating device in said oven back of said oven top opening, and means for intercepting rays of light from said device located between it and said last named opening.

9. In a cooking range, an outer enclosing frame or housing comprising front, side and top portions, an oven compartment therein comprising a top and sides, one of the sides having a front opening, a door for said opening, said frame having a sight opening at its upperypart which opening is exposed to light rays coming from above the range, said oven top having a substantially horizontal opening at its front in Visual alignment with said sight opening, a transparent closure therein elevated above said oven top, said range having a visually unobstructed space between the two last mentioned openings and visually open to the interior of the oven and to space above the range, a transparent cover for said sight opening, a laterally extending artificial illuminating device in said o-ven back of said oven top opening, and means for intercepting rays of light from said device located between it and said last named opening.

ELMER D. PELLEGRIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 11,810 Cahoone Feb- 27, 1900 69,536 Buck Oct. 8, 1867 128,989 Webster July 16, 1872 136,884 Warriner Mar. 18, 1873 174,215 Elliot Feb, 29, 1876 207,604 Hamlin Sept. 3, 1878 737,105 Horvath Aug. 25, 1903 900,211 Santoski Oct. 6, 1908 980,598 Cascaden Jan. 3, 1911 1,717,636 Vastine June 18, 1929 1,800,863 Johnson Apr. 14, 1931 2,102,616 Ehret Dec. 21, 1937 2,281,608 Vincent May 5, 1942 

